Dental mulling receiver for amalgams



Sept. 6, 1955 B. K. BRAUM 2,716,816

DENTAL MULLING RECEIVER FOR AMALGAMS Filed Aug. 27, 1954 Patented Sept. 6., 1.95.5

znrasrs DENTAL MULLIN G RECEIVER. F OR AMALGAMS Blanchard K. Braum, Minneapolis, Minn. Application August 27, 1954,.Serial.No..452,489

3 Claims. (Cl. '3240) My invention relates to improvements indental mulling receivers for amalgams.

In dentistry, it is a common practice in the preparation of an amalgam, the components of which have. been brought together en masse, to place such alloyed body in the palm of the :human handand mull or knead the same into the form of a pellet. or ball with afinger of the other hand, thereby to condition such; material for use by thoroughly intermixing its components and rendering it suitably plastic for introduction into. the cavity of a tooth. 1

Mechanically, the human handserves well .as. a receiver for an amalgam alloy to be mulled therein into condition for use, such being the case by reason of the flexibility of the palm of the rhand and- .byreason oftthe various contours thereof which may beacquired by cupping the hand more or less in accommodation of the particular ball or pellet of amalgam being-conditioued'in the mulling operation. However, as a-receiver-for-adental amalgam being mulled into a ball or pellet, the human hand has disadvantages in that it is prone to be lacking in sterility and apt to give up to the amalgam contaminating matter such as perspiration and particles of cuticle which, of course, is objectionable not only from a sanitary standpoint but also from the standpoint of producing a ball or pellet of amalgam of satisfactory physical properties.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, durable and efiicient dental device to take the place of the human hand as a mulling receiver for a balled or pelleted amalgam, in which such device is included a sanitary work-supporting member of flexible material adapted to be cupped more or less at will and correspondingly rendered more or less flexible in accord with the size and composition of a particular ball or pellet of amalgam to be conditioned by mulling.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mulling receiver, as aforesaid, adapted to be conveniently held in the hand or seated on an operators work table or other support.

More specifically it is an object of my invention to supply a dental device as hereinabove indicated, which includes a flexible work-supporting diaphragm and a holder therefor having a frame member and clamping means adapted to cooperate therewith and with the diaphragm readily to admit of the application of the diaphragm to and the removal thereof from the holder for cleansing or replacement and which when applied to said holder may be bellied or cupped therein in greater or lesser degree as best suited to any particular amalgammulling operation.

Other objects of the invention reside in the novel combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter illustrated and/ or described.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the frame member of a holder for a work-supporting diaphragm for use in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a. central sectional view in elevation of the frame member shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a holder clamp-ring for application to the frame member shown in Figs. 1 and 2 to secure a work-supporting diaphragm in place thereon.

Fig. 4 is a central sectional view in elevation of the clamp-ring shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a diaphragm for supporting the work in an amalgam-mulling operation as performed in a receiver in embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 6 is a view of a mulling receiver constructed in accordance with the present invention, the same being partly in elevation and partly in section illustrating a worksupporting diaphragm, as shown in Fig. 5, applied to the frame member of a holder, constructed as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and secured in place on such frame member by a holder clamp-ring, constructed as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

As will be seen from the drawing, the illustrated form of my invention comprises a holder A and a work-supportingmember or diaphragm B removably applicable thereto. The holderA includes a frame member 10 havinga hollow cylindrical body 11 formed with a upstanding rim 12 thereon, and further includes a clamp-ring 13 which fits telescopically over said rim 12 of the said frame member 10 of the holder A.

The diaphragm or work-supporting member B consists of a circular piece of suitable flexible material, prefer ably an expendable fabric such as finely woven linen, the diameter of which is somewhat greater than the diameter of the rim 12 of the holder frame member 10. Such adiaphragm B is applied to the holder A by spreading the body portion 15 thereof across the lip 14. of the, rim 12 of said holder and thereupon slipping the clamp-ring 12 into place on said rim 12 thereby to grip the marginal portion 15 of the diaphragm B between the outer surface 16 of said rim 12 and the inner surface 17 of said clamp-ring 13. Bellying or cupping of the body portion 15 of the diaphragm B, if desired at all or in any degree, is attained by depressing the body portion 15 of said diaphragm B and holding it depressed while the clamp-ring 13 is being thrust into clamping position gripping the marginal portion 15 of said diaphragm B against the rim 12. In Fig. 6 of the drawing, the body 15 of the diaphragm B is shown in solid lines stretched tautly across the lip 14 of the holder rim 12 without bellying or cupping, while in the same view the body of said diaphragm is shown in dotted lines in two positions bellied or cupped in different degree as may be suitable under different circumstances in the mulling of dental amalgams.

The inner surface 17 of the clamp-ring 13 is outwardly tapered downwardly, the inner diameter of said clampring 13 in relation to the outer diameter of the lip 14 of the holder rim 12 being such that when the clamp-ring 13 is pressed home against the marginal portion 15 of a diaphragm B overlying said lip 14, the upper portion of said clamp-ring 13 will provide a fence or barrier 18 about the perimeter of the body portion 15 of the diaphragm B for retaining a ball or pellet of amalgam thereon.

Preferably, the outer surface 16 of the holder rim 12 is inwardly tapered upwardly to match the outward downward tapering of the inner surface 17 of the clamp-ring 13, whereby a substantial area of the marginal material of the diaphragm B may be gripped between the clampring 13 and holder rim 12.

With the diaphragm B of my mulling receiver disposed tautly, or more or less bellied to suit any particular mulling operation, the quantity of amalgam to be worked is placed on said diaphragm and mulled against the same with a finger of one hand on which a protective cot is preferably worn, the holder A being held in the other hand 3 or seated on a table, bench or other suitable stationary support.

Following a mulling operation, the used diaphragm B will be removed from the holder A and cleansed in suitable manner for reuse, or will be discarded and a new one substituted therefor in the subsequent operation. The latter course being preferred, it is to such end that the diaphragm B be of a material and construction rendering it feasibly expendable.

The body 11 of the frame member 10 of the holder A has an outstanding shoulder 19 thereon which underlies the lower edge of the clamp-ring 13 when said ring is operatively positioned on the rim 12 of said holder. In such disposition of said clamp-ring 13, there is an annular space or groove 20 provided between said lower edge of the ring 13 and said shoulder 19. This space or groove 20 provides for the edgewise reception therein of a coin or other instrument which may be manipulated in a prying action against said shoulder 19 and the lower edge of the clamp-ring 13 to loosen said clamp-ring from its diaphragm-gripping position on the rim 12 of the holder frame member 10.

The outer surface of the body 11 of the holder frame 10 and the outer surface of the clamp-ring 13 may be knurled, as at 21, 22, or fluted to facilitate the users grip on said body and clamp-ring in the handling thereof.

Changes in the specific form of the invention, as herein described, may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of a character described, the combination of; a holder including a frame member having an annular rim thereon and a clamp-ring removably applied to said rim telescopically about the same, a flexible diaphragm removably resting on the lip of said rim with its body portion more or less cupped or bellied within the confines of said lip and with its marginal portion turned down about said rim between the outer surface thereof and the inner surface of the clamp ring, said clamp ring acting to bind such marginal portion of said diaphragm between it and said rim securely to hold said diaphragm in place on the rim.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1, wherein one at least of the inner surface of clamp ring and the outer surface of the rim on the frame member is tapered to facilitate the clamping effect of the clamp ring against the marginal portion of the diaphragm and to limit the telescoping of the clamp ring relative to the rim upon its application thereto, the upper portion of said clamp ring in the diaphragm-clamping position of said clamp ring standing above the level of the lip of said rim to provide a fence or barrier about the perimeter of the body portion of the diaphragm.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the frame member has an annular shoulder extending outwardly therefrom at the base of the rim thereon and, wherein. one at least of the inner surface of the clamp ring and the outer surface of the rim is tapered to facilitate the clamping effect of the clamp ring against the marginal portion of the diaphragm and to limit the telescoping of the clamp ring relative to the rim upon its application thereto, the lower edge of said clamp ring in the diaphragm-clamping position of said clamp ring being spaced from said shoulder to provide an annular groove between said clamp ring and shoulder for the reception of an instrument for loosening the clamp ring from the frame member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

